Following the Mexican Revolution's end in 1920, the United States became increasingly
fascinated with Mexican culture and its exotic revolutionary artists. The enormous vogue
of things Mexican lasted until 1945 and the end of World War II. This vogue, however,
describes only one of the many sides of the intricate relationship between the United
States and Mexico. The political relationship between the two countries was very
complicated during the decades following the Mexican Revolution. Mexico sought
redefinition and assertion on the international stage. The United States was trying to
determine its role in relation to Mexico. Both countries were in a constant state of flux in
relation to the other; there were moments of great closeness and others of great tension.
The political atmosphere of the time possessed an incredible amount of influence on the
cultural vogue. Mexico and the United States' internal politics and their political
practices with regard to each other both allowed the vogue to exist and dictated the
manner in which the vogue progressed. Carl Zigrosser founded and directed the Weyhe
Gallery, a small art gallery that became grew to prominence in the vogue, from 1919-
1940, and then became Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of
Art. Through Carl Zigrosser, the enormous vogue of things Mexican can be seen in a
much more intimate manner. This thesis will use Carl Zigrosser and his correspondence
with many individuals who were associated with the enormous vogue of things Mexican
to illustrate that, whether intentional or not, political actions during this time had
significant cultural implications.

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Citation

Applegate, James W.."Celebrated Artists and Political Nightmares: Carl Zigrosser and a Reconsideration of the Enormous Vogue of Things Mexican, 1920-1975". 2011. Available electronically from http://hdl.handle.net/10066/6691.